Thursday, December 28, 2006

This past Christmas Day “my” part of Barcelona was “dead”. No one was in town, nadie - except for me and a few drifters.

Our old-favorite cafés and restaurants all closed before noon, especially my MOST very favorite, which I am too sane to admit I love.

So: we found ourselves in Farga, a restaurant/bar/café on the avenida de Diagonal. Farga has a breathtaking, yet inviting look - even from the outside, which would make a picture postcard look like a packing crate by comparison.

And so it happened this past Saturday,wishing to take my mind off my troubles after losing somehow, someway, photographs, I asked him if I could interview him and take some photos. He happily smiled that way he has, nodded YES and I was glad.

I returned with my camera and met him at his corner office in the barrio of San Gervasi where you can find him diligently "working" come rain or shine. Any Human Resource Manager would be glad to have him on their team.

Briefly we stumbled, as you will hear. We have no common language, except for Castellano, and speaking and understanding one another is sometimes difficult.

When Stanciu finished, I gave him my recorder so that he could listen to himself. I wanted to allow him to re-record if necessary. So, my recorder and my hand were held up to his ear. All the while, an elderly by-stander watched.

As he listened to himself, tears flowed from his eyes. I don’t know why he cried, but the moment alarmed me and he assured me all was well.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

We went to the plaça adjacent to the Cathedral, and then down a small street, taking photos along the way.

We walked around the church and decided to head for plaça de Sant Jaume to eat in one of those fast-food places where you can sit on the second floor and get a great a view of the plaça.

There were no tables behind me, just an open space. Behind the open space were two tables of people, sitting side by side.

My partner and I ate, talked, looked at our photos and got up to go.

Today, I became a statistic in Barcelona.

Neither of us, nor the people behind me, saw you take my purse.

You are a perfectionist and to get by me the way you did means you are very, VERY good.

If I had one wish, I would wish that you would send me EVERYTHING you won’t use.

And, maybe, if you had asked me, I might have given you what you wanted. You should have just asked.

You inconvenienced me. Yes, you did. I now have to apply for a new passport, credit card, bankbook, and insurance card. I need keys for my apartment.

I will miss my SUDOKU book but most important of all, I will have lost the only photo of me as a child … the photo that reminded me of my innocence.

But, I doubt if you will read this. Somehow I don’t see you surfing the internet.

But, maybe I can let others know the little I DO know.

You are both a middle-aged couple. I saw you from the corner of my eye and I thought you were looking for a table, moving back and forth as if you were searching for a place to sit. You blended well with the crowd.

You have taught me a lesson, again. The last time I was robbed, I was 13 years old. I am now older, and you have made me much wiser.

I can’t say that my purse will NEVER be snatched again.

But, by writing this post, if I can alert only one person to be careful of you and others like you, then sharing how I feel is worth the time spent writing this message.

But, maybe, most importantly, I am getting feelings of anger, dismay, distress and thoughts off my chest, mind and heart.

Luna: What are your best features?Weary Pencil: Hmmm … our colors! We’re equal-opportunity pencils, as you can see by the wondrous array before you. We’re also proud we can bend and adjust comfortably to the human hand.

Luna: What do your families think about the success you’ve had in achieving the great honor of being displayed and sold in the La Pedrera, the famous Gaudi building in Barcelona?

Weary Pencil: Our forefathers’ hearts are swollen with pride. We don’t lose sight of our heritage. Pencils have been evolving and changing since before the Ball-point Age. Not to be philosophical here, but if it if weren’t for the generations of pencils that came before us, we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have today. We’re overwhelmed by their sacrifice!

Luna: Which segment of the population do you wish would respect you more?

Weary Pencil: Well, we’d like to be as respected as fountain pens for gifts – especially at Bar Mitzvahs.

Luna: What makes your pencils special?

Weary Pencils: We have been fine-tuned to the max: that is, the right lead, the best eraser, and brilliant coloring have been refined and tweaked to make us unique.

Luna: What changes will there be in your future?

Weary Pencil: We’ve heard rumors that there’ll be pencils for lefties, for spelling correctly and to execute the most intimate punctuation marks of the rich and famous. Might even be available at a store near you as we speak!

Luna: I can’t wait!

Luna: What, in your opinion, is the most environmentally-unfriendly thing people do?

Weary Pencil: Hmm … great question and I’m glad you asked. We hate finding ourselves in people’s nostrils. So revolting! Our next pet peeve is how people gnaw and chew on our bodies, pull on our heads and tear off our erasers.

Luna: Oh my, that has to hurt!

Weary Pencil: You betcha!

Luna: Final question: If you’re ever reincarnated, what would you like to come back as?

Saturday, December 09, 2006

I originally wrote about Vanessa in my post titled: A warm human being among others who are cold through and through. You can read it and view some pictures of her HERE.

I store my photos in FLICKR. Vanessa has been viewed many times and 2 of her photos have been selected as someone’s favorite.

I am posting her email and you can feel her excitement. It appears that life is looking up for Vanessa.

Grácias Luna! Las fotos me encantan, are lovely, youare so lovely! Next Monday it´s my last day workingthere, I´d found a better job, free mornings and muchmore well paid, more time to do what I want and I mustto do,do-be do-be do, one video whith my friend aboutwork, my work, Irina´s work ( the younger of the"three sisters",d´A. Thèkhov )Before I Work in RamblasI made a short video of one minut whith him about oneactrees desemployed locking for a job in one festivalof cinema...at the end we can see her working sellingthe ticktets for the cinema, and two weeks latter Iget this job in the Ramblas, funny dont youthink?,everything it´s so magic! (you can see it-andear it-in www.youtube.com and writte "Actriz en paro"in Search)...sorry for my horrible english, i´lllearn.Thank you!,tanks for your shot oflight!-Vanessa-

Thursday, December 07, 2006

When I was a young woman of (cough, cough) age, I met a cousin through marriage for the first time.

She couldn’t speak my language and I couldn’t speak hers.

We spent a month together and communicated in THAT way where language was neither a factor nor a hindrance.

What struck me about Kirtri was not only her beauty but her dancing-eyes. Her eyes welcomed me with sincerity, compassion, fun, soothness and welcome.

She was about 21 at that time and little did I know that two years later she would die from something or other that to this day I do not understand clearly.

My father-in-law’s eyes had those characteristics I mentioned Kirtri had and recently I met a man who reminds me warmly of these two people.

He is not from Barcelona, not a Catalan, not an irresistible Spaniard but from a far-away place called Russia.

I speak of Lev Mochine, a painter in the true sense.

Lev MochineBarcelona, 2006

When my friend and I saw Lev we were enchanted and captivated with his face, smile and his eyes.

In the past many weeks on Las Ramblas, we have gotten to know Lev and his friendly, endearing, beautiful wife, Tatiana.

Lev and Tatian MochineBarcelona, 2006

I don’t know what it is or what Lev has that fascinates and draws us to him. He does nothing spectacular and says nothing profound but we LIKE him and ALWAYS look for them on Las Ramblas.

Anyway, about a week ago, while walking in the downtown area with no specific or clear objective of what we were doing, we happen to pass by Lev and Tatiana.

We took pictures (we just can’t get enough of him) of Lev and just happened to draw a crowd. For the first time I truly watched him paint.

Lev MochineBarcelona, 2006

It was magic! He captured the person’s essence just as he had captured our hearts.

My friend and I were completely captivated with what we were seeing, and so commented to each other.

Some people overheard us, and to our amazement and fantastic surprise, Lev now had a crowd of people who wanted their images drawn. I like to think we were his LUCKY CHARM that day.

A few days later we were back on Las Ramblas, (where else?), and surrealy found ourselves in Lev and Tatiana’s kitchen, drinking tea where its flavor was so intense it could kill ya.

Surrounding the tea, we were served dried fruit of various kinds and CHOCOLATE! Chocolate cut into bite size pieces of which we had none. We could hardly believe ourselves; the chocolate was not harmed.

Lev and Tatiana live in a piso facing Las Ramblas. What an ideal location for people like us to take to take some photos. And I did! WOW! was I excited.

View of Las Ramblas from Lev Mochine's ApartmentBarcelona, 2006

What a view! What a day! What a moment!

It is an honor to be a part of their lives and they in ours.

Lev has even left a part of himself in an AUDIO in Castellano. Listen to his soft-spoken voice that in my minds eye matches his inviting and warm face.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

She was shy and so it was a wonder that she let us take photos of her.

We were on the rooftop of the Mare Magnum mall where the sun was working on setting it self to the other side of the world. On the rooftop there is a very long, low fountain surrounded by aquamarine colored walls with a wonderful view of the plaza and surroundings.

Ahem. A little while later I was called away by nature. Upon my return, I saw my friend speaking with this young woman who happened to be sitting on the edge of a corner wall. He had taken some pictures of her and a conversation ensued.

She appeared timid and retiring.

I saw her and immediately liked her face.

I was introduced and we explained what we do, which often is hard to explain. I then asked if I could take her picture.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

For the past 3 years, I’ve had the wonderful experience to see a particular couple dance the tango at the plaza by the Cathedral. So, this past summer I made several visits to the plaça especially to see them, take videos and pictures.

But wouldn’t you know it. This past summer and up until now it has been difficult to locate them.

However, I did come across a couple who were wowing the crowds. They were in their “zone”, that is, one with the music and oblivious to all around them.

A Twirl and A LiftBarcelona, 2006

I took a few photos just before their last dance on la Rambla.

They were leaving Spain the following day and coming back sometime in the spring.

Just a simple side-stepBarcelona, 2006

What makes this moment more eventful is how the sun just happens to shine on them in that soft, special way.

Anyway, you can hear Valeria on AUDIO, in castellano, speaking really, REALLY fast -- condensing a four hour speech into one minute.

Meanwhile, I will continue my long, arduous journey, seeking, searching, and yearning to see that special tango couple with the lady ALWAYS dressed in red.

If you happen to see them, can you let me know?

Meanwhile, you can view more pictures of the tango dancers and other street artists by clicking on the link below.